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Today’s Gospel marks the end
of the Galilean ministry of Jesus and the beginning of the fateful
journey to Jerusalem and the
cross.
This Galilean ministry, as presented to us
in Luke, begins with Jesus accepting the baptism of John, and with it
the
proclamation that he is the Son of God.
This expression “Son of God,” in ancient Israelite culture, is the
highest title attributed to Israel’s
king, and with this proclamation made, Luke proceeds to list the
genealogy of
Jesus so as to establish for his readers that Jesus is truly the
legitimate
heir to the throne as descended through the House of David.
John’s baptism is in the form of his anointing
or coronation as such, made possible by John’s own lineage as the true
high
priest of Israel
as descended through the House of Aaron.
Jesus begins his ministry as the duly
anointed and long expected Messianic king of Israel. When we are
able to see this through the eyes
of those first crowds that were gathered to him in Galilee at the
urging of the
charismatic and prophetic figure of John the Baptist, we realize that
this, in
and of itself, is an amazing revelation.
Yet from this revelation, Luke allows the dramatic tension to build as
the crowds slowly but surely become aware, as does the reader, that
Jesus is
much different and much more than can be contained within this ancient
concept
of who and what the Messiah was supposed to be.
Increasingly, Jesus is revealed as the one and
only begotten Son of
God,
and the Son of Man, the first of a new and ascended race of humankind
who has
conquered sin and even death itself. And
so he gives sight to the blind, heals the halt and the lame, cleanses
the
lepers, and casts out the demons. In chapter
seven of Luke’s Gospel he dramatically and publicly raises the son of
the widow
of Nain from the dead and calms the raging sea.
In chapter eight he casts a legion of devils out of the Gerasene
demoniac and raises the daughter of Jairus back to life. In
chapter nine he gives even his own
disciples power over demons and disease, and teaches them to feed a
multitude
with five loaves and two fish. And when he poses the question to them
of just
who it is that he might be, we must stand awestruck with Simon Peter
and
proclaim, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”
Now we are at today’s Gospel at the end of
Luke chapter nine. Jesus, proclaimed Christ, has come to that time when
the
days of his being taken up by God and to God must be fulfilled, and so
we are
told, “…he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,” And so
begins that
final sojourn to the cross and to that certain death that would free
all those
that would forevermore proclaim him Christ from the curse of sin and
the just retribution
of the grave.
At this point, the teaching of Jesus takes
on a new urgency and intensity, and the emphasis of his instruction
shifts
from
the crowds to the disciples. And as
Jesus proceeds on towards Jerusalem,
the last call to this discipleship goes out, and so he beckons, “Follow
me!” And the one to whom he calls begs
him, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” And Jesus
answers
him, “Let the dead bury their
dead,” for the spiritually dead are capable of burying the physically
dead, and
if we are to follow him, then we are to turn from death and follow
life. And we are to do it now. Another begs to follow but
asks, “…let
me say
farewell to my family at home,” and Jesus tells him, “No one who sets a
hand to
the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of
God.” And
so we learn that there is only one direction in which our faith can
take us and
that is forward; always forward.
Today, this call to discipleship is ours
and it is the most precious offer that we will ever receive.
Today, Jesus beckons to each of us to be
resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem. And, if we listen
carefully and prayerfully,
through the din and noise of a world consumed by its own sin, we will
hear his
voice call to us in the hour of our deepest need, “Follow me!” And what
he asks
of each of us is that we heed this call without question or
reservation,
without hesitation or excuse, and, dropping every earthly care, turn
our eyes
towards him, pick up our cross and fall in behind him on the long and
narrow
road that leads to Calvary.
No one has ever claimed that the way of
the cross is easy, but all that have ever walked it do make the claim
that it
is worth the effort. The way of the
cross is the road to that true freedom that only comes through faith in
Christ. No longer ensnared in the ways
of the flesh, no longer enslaved to the death and despair of the grave,
Christ
has set us free to soar in a Spirit liberated by his undying love for
us, and
manifested through our uncompromised devotion to him. Through
this devotion to him, we find the
burden of the law which no one could uphold replaced by the burden of
the love
that no one can contain. When our hearts
become filled with this love and through it we learn to reach out to
others as
Christ has reached out to us, then we come to know that the cross that
he asks
us to bear is worth all the effort required because, like the old song
says, it
“…ain’t heavy, it’s my brother.” And so
Jesus can reassure us that, indeed, his yoke is easy and his burden is
light.
And so, today, let us accept this
invitation to follow him that has been extended to us: Let us
leave the dead to bury their own, set
a hand to the plow and never look back at the sin and broken lives that
we have
left behind. It is this that makes us
fit for the kingdom of God, and it is Christ,
and Christ alone, that makes us worthy.
Let each of us answer this call as he requires; without question or
reservation, without hesitation or excuse that our faith may take us
forward;
always forward on the journey to Jerusalem.
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1
Kgs 19:16b, 19-21
The LORD said to Elijah:
“You shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah,
as prophet to succeed you.”
Elijah set out and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat,
as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen;
he was following the twelfth.
Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.
Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,
“Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,
and I will follow you.”
Elijah answered, “Go back!
Have I done anything to you?”
Elisha left him, and taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them;
he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh,
and gave it to his people to eat.
Then Elisha left and followed Elijah as his attendant.
Ps
16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
R. (cf. 5a) You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.”
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Gal
5:1, 13-18
Brothers and sisters:
For freedom Christ set us free;
so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters.
But do not use this freedom
as an opportunity for the flesh;
rather, serve one another through love.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement,
namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
But if you go on biting and devouring one another,
beware that you are not consumed by one another.
I say, then: live by the Spirit
and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.
For the flesh has desires against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh;
these are opposed to each other,
so that you may not do what you want.
But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Lk
9:51-62
When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?”
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him,
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”
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